With bombs and mortar shells exploding outside, a new Iraqi government stepped forward Tuesday to guide the country toward democratic elections, less than a month from the day the United States will formally restore sovereignty to this restive land. ...

By DEXTER FILKINS and STEVEN R. WEISMAN; Dexter Filkins reported from Baghdad for this article, and Steven R. Weisman from Washington. Warren Hoge contributed reporting from the United Nations

Adnan Pachachi, the former Iraqi foreign minister, emerged Monday as the leading candidate to become the new Iraqi president, as American officials signaled that they would announce a completed interim government on Tuesday. A senior Bush...

By DEXTER FILKINS and STEVEN R. WEISMAN; Dexter Filkins reported from Baghdad for this article, and Steven R. Weisman from Washington

American, Iraqi and United Nations officials deadlocked Saturday over the selection of an Iraqi president, even as they appeared to strike a deal over the most important cabinet ministers for the new government that is to take over on July 1. On...

The Bush administration is pressing the United Nations envoy to change his proposal for a transitional Iraqi government once self-rule is returned on June 30, Iraqi and administration officials say. Instead of a government that is nonpolitical,...

By JOHN F. BURNS and THOM SHANKER; Steven R. Weisman contributed reporting from Washington for this article

With fewer than 100 days to go before Iraq resumes its sovereignty, American officials say they believe they have found a legal basis for American troops to continue their military control over the security situation in Iraq. After months of...

American officials said Monday that they would approve a temporary Iraqi constitution, all but ensuring that the document would serve as the framework for a new Iraqi state. But the celebratory mood was muted by the knowledge that Iraqi leaders...

Shiite leaders are pushing a new plan for the transfer of power in Iraq that calls for partial elections, with balloting in the relatively secure Shiite and Kurdish areas but not in the more turbulent ''Sunni triangle.'' The proposal, which has...

In calling the capture of Saddam Hussein ''crucial to the rise of a free Iraq,'' President Bush forgot the old saw about being careful what you wish for. Six weeks later, the administration seems shocked by the effect that event had on the country's...